ISLAMABAD - United States of America has allowed the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate special chartered flights for the first time in history to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in the US due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to details, the US Department of Transportation has issued a letter in response to a request of PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik. According to the letter, PIA will be allowed to operate 12 direct chartered flights to US for a month for repatriation purposes. Earlier, the PIA CEO wrote a letter to the US ambassador and the State Department seeking permission to operate PIA special flights to repatriate Pakistanis stranded in the US. He said that the Covid-19 crisis had created a situation which necessitated conduct of urgent air service to repatriate stranded citizens.